In Part 1 of this lively two-part conversation, host Tony Miros sits down with the endlessly charming Michael Nouri, forever etched in pop culture history as Nick Hurley in the smash 1980s hit Flashdance. Michael laughs about how—more than 40 years later—fans still stop him to talk about the film (those once-swooning teenagers are now grandmothers!), and he fondly recalls working with director Adrian Lyne on what became a global phenomenon. None of them could have predicted just how big the movie would become.
Michael traces his journey back to Washington, D.C., where early trips to the theater sparked the acting bug. A high school production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury revealed his love for singing and musical theater. After college, he headed to NYC. With no formal acting training, he landed Forty Carats on Broadway opposite Julie Harris —launching a whirlwind career that included a Daytime Emmy Nom for Search for Tomorrow .
From playing Dracula on Cliffhangers to portraying Lucky Luciano in The Gangster Chronicles, Michael’s career surged through TV & film, fueled by deep research & a Universal Studios contract that kept him busy (& paid). After projects like The Last Convertible & an Off-Broadway return to NYC, he found himself at a crossroads—choosing between Sam Peckinpah’s The Osterman Weekend and a little movie called Flashdance. He followed his instincts, and the rest is movie history.
Michael shares unforgettable memories from filming Flashdance with a nervous but excited 17-year-old Jennifer Beals, the electric premiere with cheering audiences & standing ovations, and watching fans line up to buy the iconic soundtrack. Overnight stardom followed—first-class travel, autograph lines, and major directors like William Friedkin & Stephen Bochco knocking at his door. This episode is packed with fun behind-the-scenes stories, career-defining moments, and pure Hollywood nostalgia.
MICHAEL NOURI
Michael Nouri is now in his fifth decade as a celebrated actor in film, television, and theater, with a career defined by range, longevity, and reinvention. In recent years, he has co-produced & starred in The Squeeze, appeared in NBC’s acclaimed miniseries The Slap, & guest-starred on hit series including Blue Bloods, Heartbeat, and Yellowstone. His notable recent screen work also includes Manhunt: Unabomber, Woman Walks Ahead, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, sharing the screen with some of today’s most respected talent.
His professional journey began with the box-office hit Goodbye Columbus (1969), followed quickly by a major Broadway debut in 40 Carats opposite Julie Harris. Over the years, he has become a familiar & trusted presence in Hollywood, balancing leading roles with memorable character performances.
On film, he is perhaps best known to audiences worldwide as the leading man in the iconic hit Flashdance. His film credits also include The Proposal with Sandra Bullock, Last Holiday with Queen Latifah, Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal with Catherine Zeta-Jones, & Finding Forrester opposite Sean Connery. He received the Best Actor Award at the Avoriaz Film Festival for his performance in the cult classic The Hidden.
Television has been another cornerstone of Nouri’s career, with appearances on acclaimed series such as Damages, The West Wing, Law & Order: SVU, NCIS, CSI: NY, Criminal Intent, & The Practice. He held major recurring roles on Bay City Blues, Love and War, The O.C., All My Children, The Young and the Restless, and Brothers and Sisters.
Michael Nouri’s Website – https://www.michaelnouri.com/
The Official Hollywood Obsessed Website - https://www.hollywoodobsessedthepodcast.com/
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.